by Bao on Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:36 pm
Some interesting points here from Dmitri and Lars.
I believe that rooting is ultimately dynamic. In my world, what is essential you develop through. In TJ you try to push each other around and in SC you try to lift each other around. What you learn in partner exercises you translate into form and standing practice. It is not the other way around. The rooting which is dynamic is much more important than static. It may seem like a contradiction, but skill in dynamic rooting will lead you into a deeper and more relaxed rooting, even in a static position. For many years, I did not do any static rooting exercises, the only zhan zhuang was wuji zhuang, which is just standing meditation, period. My teacher, who has the best rooting skill I ever encountered practiced for about 30 years without knowing any other zhan zhuang except wuji stance. What I think is interesting, is that bagua and xingyi gave me a much better footwork, but it was actually sun style taijiquan which really developed my rooting to a new level. Sun style never stays in a stationary stance, it keeps the legs moving just as flowing as the arm movements. It's footwork is actually more dynamic than any bagua or xingyi I've studied.
What Lars writes about made me think about what the famous actor and teacher Stanislavskij (1863-1938) wrote about a woman he met who was an archeologist. She constructed statues from different parts they found. To be able to construct the statues, she must understand the balance of the human body, static as dynamic. The result of her knowledge was that she could easily break the balance of any any person. How strong or big she or he was didn't matter, it was an easy task for her. Stanislavskij do not mention taiji, but of course, that was what I thought about when I read his book. This is something slightly opposite to the topic here, but I think it is still similar. Balance is not a specific art - it is a knowledge which can be learned and understood in many different ways. Ultimately it is about self-knowledge and about body awareness.
Thoughts on Tai Chi (My Tai Chi blog)
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Storms make oaks take deeper root. -George Herbert
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To affect the quality of the day, is the highest of all arts! -Walden Thoreau